The Secret Room
by Jenny L
Summary: Someone lures Chloe into an secret room...Takes place in the third book just before ch.32. C/D paring of course Sadly, I own nothing :   Rated R for violence, so be warned, kiddies!


Hi everyone! Sorry I've been out of commission for such a long time! Thank you all so much for your amazingly glowing reviews! This is a little something I wrote during a flight. It doesn't actually have that much of a point to it I hope you get a little kick out of it anyway. Thanks for reading! Again, any reviews or suggestions you have please leave a comment! It helps me become a better writer, and that I appreciate! 3

Chloe sat in the sunroom and tried not to fidget. Very unsuccessfully. She sighed and stared at the blank notebook and pen on her lap, the offending white page remaining depressingly untouched. You'd think that she would be bursting with new ideas considering all that she had been through last few weeks but, no, her brain was refusing to cooperate. Too bad. She could've really used a distraction right about now. Writing a screenplay about a genetically enhanced teenage necromancer would be a welcome change of pace. Fiction was much easier for her to control than reality.

Their bags were packed and hidden and they were _itching_ to get away from this place. Unfortunately, this place was presently crawling with supernaturals who thought that they were abominations, so they were forced to sit back, bide their time and act normal until they could get away. It was proving to be easier said than done. Chloe had managed to sneak away from the accusing eyes of the adults and had squirreled herself away in the half hidden room but she was starting to think that it wasn't her best idea. Now that she had her thoughts to herself she wasn't sure she wanted them.

What she did want was for them to be safe and they were not safe here. It turns out they never had been. They were being taken care of by people who thought that they should be locked up; one of whom took out a werewolf hit on Derek. They were staying in a house that was haunted by dead supernaturals that were attached to the Edison Group in life; the very group that they were running away from. Were they safe anywhere? Would they always be running?

At least the guys had found out that their father was alive. But the happiness and relief she felt about that quickly gave away to anxiousness that her father would live the rest of his life thinking that she hated him which gave away to the stark fear that her aunt was dead. Would she be able to contact her if she was? And that line of thinking just led her back to familiar panic that attacked her every time she thought about being a genetically modified freak that could raise armies of the dead.

Her thoughts went around and around like that until she growled in frustration, running her hands through her hair, and promptly laughed. She had never growled before. Derek was rubbing off on her.

_Wow, that didn't sound right…_she thought, blushing.

Not that the idea of Derek rubbing against her didn't appeal to her – quite the opposite in fact…

"Chloe."

She jumped from her chair, her pen and notebook dropping to the floor, and spun toward the door.

Simon stood in the doorway, grinning and leaning cockily against the doorframe. Chloe faltered. Was there something different about in his smile or was it just her imagination? A split second later, the look was gone and Chloe returned his smile. Must have been her imagination.

"Hey. What's up?" She asked, picking up her notebook and looking around for her pen. She spied it under the chair and bent to pick it up.

"I have a surprise for you." He said, strutting into the room.

She did a double take as she stood up. Since when did Simon strut?

"Well, come on! What are you waiting for?"

Simon motioned for her to come and she put her stuff on the chair and followed him out into the hallway. She looked both ways, biting her lip. Where was Derek? She jumped as Simon grabbed her elbow, leading her away from the stairs.

"Don't worry about _him_. I want to show you this first."

"Okay." Chloe said slowly. Why did she feel so apprehensive? This was Simon!

Simon chatted about something or other while he led her deeper into the house, but Chloe paid little attention to him. Finally, they were in the attic and still he led her deeper.

"Simon, where are we going?"

"You'll see."

He led her to a far wall and behind some boxes. There she saw a hidden door. Was this his surprise? Chloe tried to work up excitement – it was something that would normally pique her interest, but her nerves had her on high alert. Simon opened the door and turned on the light and Chloe followed him in. The room was small with big boxes lined up against a wall. An old spring bed frame was rusting in a corner. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs hung from the ceiling, like nobody had been up here in years.

Simon turned, triumphant. "Well? What do you think?"

Chloe felt the first real strings of fear pluck at her heart. Something wasn't right.

"O-Oh, hidden room. Cool. I read a book about something like this once."

Chloe plastered on an innocent smile. From far away, she heard her name being called and she jumped.

"You hear that?" She asked, her head swimming with relief. Finally, an excuse to go downstairs. She moved toward the small door, but Simon blocked her.

"I didn't hear a thing."

"Someone's calling me. I-I better go."

"Nobody was calling you, Chloe.' He sneered. "Unless it was a ghost."

"What's wrong with you?" She whispered, stumbling back into the rusted bed frame. A piece broke off and crashed to the floor. She heard her name again, closer than before. _Please, please be Derek! Please!_

"Your big bad boyfriend won't be bothering us, little Necro. I sent him out in the woods on a wild goose chase."

A figure ran into the room; his footsteps not making a sound.

"Chloe!"

Simon stood by the door, his face twisted in fear.

"Oh My GOD, ROYCE!" Chloe yelled, turning back to the sociopath inhabiting her friend's body.

She was too late to react to the fist that Royce had swung at her face and she found herself lying on the floor, pain blossoming through her head. She tasted blood and spit a mouthful onto the dusty floor, some dribbling down her chin. Simon was screaming at Royce to let her go but Chloe knew that Royce couldn't hear him – not if he was in Simon's body.

Royce crouched down in front of her, grinning. Chloe berated herself. How could she even _think_ that it was Simon in there? She knew that spirits could possess people. Why did she go against her instincts? Chloe was not looking forward to the hell that Derek was gonna give her later!

"I told you I'd be back, you little bitch. And now that I have a nice new body, we can have some _real_ fun."

"Don't you fucking touch her!" Simon yelled. He looked at her helplessly. "Chloe, what can I do?"

That was the question. Chloe tried to think of something – anything – that he could do. But he was ghost – not a poltergeist like Liz. The only other person who could hear him was Margaret but she was wanted to be as far away from Chloe as possible so she was long gone. _Damn it, think!_

Royce grabbed her elbow and forced Chloe to her feet; her legs wobbling. The room seemed to spin and she stumbled back against the wall to keep upright. Royce grabbed his crotch and grinned.

"Huh. You're in luck. Gotta pretty big dick for a chink."

Chloe couldn't stop herself. As soon as Royce's words left Simon's mouth, she smacked him across the face as hard as she could. Royce laughed and she winced.

"Damn it! Sorry, Simon!"

"Yeah. You have my permission to hit him again." Simon spat, his fingers flexing.

Chloe dodged and ran for the door but Royce caught her by her neck and slammed her against the wall.

"Simon! Fog sp..." Chloe croaked as Royce tightened the hand on her neck. She hoped Simon knew what she had meant.

And then Simon was gone and Chloe was all alone with Royce. She closed her eyes and tried to push him out – out of Simon and into whatever hell dimension he deserved to be.

"Ha! Doesn't work that way, little Necro. There's nothing that you can do to force me out of this body. But just in case we are interrupted…"

Royce cocked his eyebrow. The door to the hidden room slammed shut and a few heavy old boxes dragged themselves across the floor to block it. Right. He was crazy _and_ a genetically modified half demon.

"Now, where were we?"

His eyes roamed her body and Chloe's skin crawled. He let go of her neck and ripped open her shirt; loose buttons skittered across the floor. She glared at him. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

"Y-You sure I can't get you out there? You know as well as I do that normal necromancy rules don't apply to me."

His eyes grew dark and Chloe grabbed her amulet and tried to press it to his skin. Royce jumped back. The black anger that spread across Simon's handsome face was frightening to see. She lunged toward the door, but he caught her by the hair and stripped her of the rest of her shirt. He wrapped the material around his hand and used it to take her necklace off of her, flinging it across the room. She screamed as loud as she could, but he wrapped both hands around her neck and squeezed until her lungs hurt and her eyes watered.

"You scream again, I will squeeze your fucking neck until your eyeballs pop." He snarled, pushing her against the wall.

Chloe tried to nod, but she couldn't. Her pulse pounded painfully through her skull and her face felt tingly. She clawed at his hands, but his grip did not falter and he watched her as if he was truly enjoying her suffering. Finally, reluctantly, he let go and she greedily sucked air into her aching lungs. Shaking, she stood in front of him wearing a white bra and jeans and although she was still mostly dressed, she felt naked and humiliation made her eyes well up with tears.

"As much as I like to see you suffer, I think I'll fuck you first. I'll get that cherry popped and then we can get down to the real fun. I'm sure we can find something sharp in here to play with."

Chloe pushed him as hard as she could and lunged once more toward the blocked door. Royce fell back hard but recovered his senses quickly; he stuck out his leg and swiped her feet out from under her. She landed hard, smacking her cheek against the old, wooden floor. As he grabbed her ankle, she hesitated for just a moment before kicking out with her other leg. She felt it connect and she hoped that Simon would forgive her for the shiner she had just given him. Scrambling up, Chloe had just touched the first box before she felt a strange pull inside of her chest and she found herself sailing across the room. She hit the back wall next to the rusted bed frame and collapsed on the floor in a heap.

Royce made a show of leisurely getting up off the floor, making damn sure she knew he was just playing with her and that, if he wanted to, he could hurt her without touching her. Why couldn't there be a stray corpse around when you needed one? She used the wall to help her stand and he laughed.

"You are much tougher than you look." He said, meandering forward. "You know, I usually like my women with titties, but you'll do. Beggars can't be choosers. Anyway, you got spunk…" He rushed forward and caught her arms before she could dodge. "…and I think I like that more than titties."

Chloe meet his stare with what she hoped looked like steely indifference, tears threatening. She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry because that was exactly what he wanted. He was lucky he was dead. If he had been alive, she wouldn't have been able to stop Derek from killing him. And she wasn't particularly sure she would want to.

Royce made a show of sniffing her. "Werewolves get you off, don't they little Necro? I can be a werewolf too."

Royce bit down on her neck and she choked back a scream.

"Chloe!" Simon yelled, running through the door and boxes blocking it. "Derek's com…ing…"

Rage twisted his face when he realized what Royce was doing. Silently, Simon's lips moved and with a flick of his fingers, Royce was knocked away from her. Momentarily stunned, Royce stumbled back and cursed, Chloe's blood running down his chin.

"Chloe!" Derek snarled from behind the hidden door.

"Derek! In here!" Chloe rasped; her throat raw and swollen. Sweet relief poured through her.

Royce charged, face twisted in anger.

"I'm sorry, Simon!" Chloe croaked, kicking out and catching Royce in the groin.

"Bitch!" Royce choked, falling to his knees.

The doorframe cracked and Derek burst through, violently sliding the boxes aside as if they weighed nothing

"Derek!" Chloe rasped, tears overflowing onto her cheeks. She quickly brushed them away.

Derek stood in front of her, his chest heaving from exertion, a brief look of relief flashing across his face. His face darkened as he took in the blood on her chin and running down her neck. His eyes slowly slid to Royce, his lip curling. Chloe followed his gaze, dread running through her. Royce was now standing and staring back at Derek, his mouth twisted in a cruel smirk, her blood on his face.

_Oh, God! Derek doesn't know that it isn't Simon!_

Chloe watched as shock washed across Derek's face. He shook his head as if he couldn't possibly be seeing what he was. Royce grinned and slowly licked the blood from his lips, eyes daring Derek to do something. In horror, Chloe looked to Derek and his face was twisted in rage, his teeth bared. He snarled and charged at his possessed brother.

Chloe lunged and knocked Simon's body out of the way and Derek stumbled, flying into the back wall, thankfully missing the rusted bed frame. Royce landed hard on his back and Chloe landed hard on Royce. Laughing, he grabbed her hips and pressed her against him. She tried to ignore the press of his hardness against her. Mortified, she turned to Derek who had recovered and about to attack again. She desperately waved her hands to get him to stop and his eyes locked onto hers.

"Not Simon! Get my necklace!" She rasped, pointing to her pendant across the room.

Derek checked himself and ran for it and Chloe prayed that it was going to work. As soon as he was close enough, she grabbed the amulet out of his hand and pressed it against Simon's cheek. Royce was sucked out of her friend's body and Simon was finally back in his own body; his hands immediately dropping from her hips.

"You bitch! You fucking whore!" Royce howled, his tantrum shaking the decrepit boxes. "Fuck you! I'll fucking kill you, you goddamn cocktease!"

"No. You won't." She spat. "You can't do a thing, Royce. You're dead."

Just as she did with his uncle, Chloe pushed him out with all the energy she had left and he flew back screaming. He disappeared before he hit the wall behind him.

She collapsed on the floor next to Simon and breathed deeply. Derek's worried face appeared above hers, his eyes glinting green shards.

"Chloe!"

She gathered up enough energy to nod. She licked her lips and the taste of blood caused her stomach to clench. Derek's eyes flicked down and his cheeks heated. He stripped off his sweater and laid it over her like a blanket. She felt a wave of embarrassment as she realized that she was still half naked. Maybe Derek was even now, considering she saw him half naked last night. Not that she had anything to look at. _Whatever._ She was grateful for the sweater.

Simon's face joined Derek's and they exchanged worried looks.

"Gu…" Chloe started and then cleared her throat. "Guys, I'm okay, just a little bruised."

"You're more than a little bruised, Chloe." Derek growled, his eyes scanning her injuries.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened. I was dozing on my bed and the next thing I know that douche took my body for a test drive. I am so sorry!" Simon exclaimed, his face twisting in pain.

"Simon, it wasn't your fault." Chloe rasped. "If someone attacked you with a knife, would blame the knife? No. He used you. You have nothing to feel bad about. Seriously."

Simon sucked in a breath. "I guess…"

Derek nodded. "She's right."

"How did you find us?" Chloe asked Derek, attempting to get up.

"No you don't." Derek grumbled, pushing her gently back on the floor.

Not that she was in a state to argue. She felt too woozy to get up anyway.

"Simon caught my attention with a fog spell. Couldn't find you two. Followed your scent."

"Hey, it worked!" Chloe smiled up at Simon wanly.

"We'll talk about it later." Derek mumbled. "I don't want tell Andrew about this. Can't trust him. Simon, are you okay to go downstairs and talk to Tori?"

"Yeah, I'm good bro. But I'm gonna be sore tomorrow." Simon smiled down at Chloe. "Your pretty tough, Chloe. Kicked my ass."

She winced. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry. I was rooting for you."

"Tell Tori to keep Andrew and whoever's left distracted if they try to come upstairs. See if she could sneak down and get some ice for your eye and Chloe's…" Derek looked at her and hesitated, surveying the damage.

"Everything?" Chloe asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Derek smiled down at her, and here she was beaten to a pulp and her heart still skipped.

"Yeah, Simon. Get enough ice for your eye and Chloe's 'everything'." Derek joked. He looked at Simon and scrutinized his face. "You don't look too bad, but keep out of sight anyway. We don't need anymore attention."

Simon gave her one more smile and disappeared from above her. Chloe heard his footsteps retreat across the vast attic.

"Now. Let's get you to a bathroom."

Chloe was about to protest that she didn't think that she could get up yet when he slid his hands underneath her and carefully picked her up. He was so warm and she rested her head against his shoulder despite of herself. He swiftly carried her through the attic and down the stairs; his footsteps barely making a sound. Instead of taking the hallway where their bedrooms were located, he turned and went down a hall she hadn't been down before. Chloe looked up at him questioningly.

"Found another bathroom. If they look for us, it will take awhile for them to find us."

She nodded and he turned into a room that led into a smaller room that led into another hallway. Wonderful. She'd never find her way back.

A couple of more turns down unused dusty hallways, Derek finally kicked open an old door, causing a shower of dust to fall from the top of the door frame and Chloe to jump out of her skin.

"Sorry." He mumbled, carefully sitting her on the dusty counter.

Chloe coughed and huddled in his sweater while Derek poked his head out in the hallway, then shut and locked the door. The pain in her body was reducing to a dull throb and her head was beginning clear. Finally, when they were safely in the washroom, Derek stood and gently pushed her hair in front of her face, his eyes locking on hers.

"Tell me." Derek asked softly. He reluctantly dropped his hand from her hair and placed both hands on the counter beside her.

Chloe sighed. Her throat was raw and she forced the words out. She told him everything that had happened, everything that had been said. She stuttered at the particularly hard parts and for once Derek didn't bark at her to slow down, he just squeezed his eyes shut. The old wooden countertop groaned under his strength and Chloe placed her hands on the straining muscles of his arms and rubbed his hot skin.

"It's okay, Derek." She said softly, her voice raw and scratchy, as his eyes opened. "Simon's okay. I'm okay."

His death grip relaxed.

"You couldn't have done anything to prevent it. You're a werewolf, not a psychic."

Derek grunted, and bent down to dig in the cabinet underneath the sink.

"I know you feel bad about almost tackling Simon…"

He froze.

"And I also know that there's nothing I can say to make you not beat yourself up about it. But if you need to talk about it, I'll..I'll listen." Chloe finished, blushing.

Derek grunted what could be taken as a maybe and continued digging until he hauled out a clean, if not a bit dusty, washcloth.

"Maybe later…" He mumbled as he stood and shook out the cloth. "We'll talk later."

Chloe nodded and abruptly stopped when her head sharply protested. As he turned on the tap, the old pipes groaned and brown water sputtered out of the tap, quickly running clear. He rinsed the cloth in the cold water and then gingerly held her chin up with his fingers. He examined her face and started to dab gently at the blood on her mouth. After a few minutes he dropped the washcloth in the sink and gently pulled down on her lower lip.

"Say 'Aw'." He said, with a small smile.

Chloe did as she was told and he checked the cuts on the inside of her cheeks.

"Well, you teeth are fine and the three or four cuts you have on your cheeks don't seem to be too bad." Derek said after a lengthy look in her mouth, during which Chloe felt suspiciously like a horse.

"Thanks, Doc."

He smiled, rinsing the blood out of the washcloth. He proceeded to clean the rest of her face, which she was pretty sure was clean, but the cold cloth felt good and she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the cool.

"Bet that feels good. We'll get you some ice when we go downstairs." He mumbled, examining her face. "Alright, let's look at you neck. Take off the sweater and…"

Derek dropped his eyes and his face reddened as he remembered that Chloe only had her bra on underneath. Chloe was absolutely sure that she was just as red.

"Or…if you don't…I don't need…I'll just go." He stammered, dropping the cloth in the sink and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"No…no. You don't have to." Chloe stuttered. "It's not like you haven't seen it before… I mean, there's really nothing to see."

Derek gave her a strange look and hesitated.

"I mean, if you're uncomfortable, of course you can leave…" Chloe said quickly.

"No! No, that's not what I meant. I just…never mind." He interrupted her, picking up the washcloth and rinsing it again.

Chloe dropped the sweater to her lap and buried her shaking hands underneath it. Derek stood in front of her and examined the bite on her neck. As he did his face grew stormy; his anger resurfacing. He dabbed lightly at the wound and Chloe winced.

"Sorry. It's probably going to sting a little as I clean it."

"It's okay. I've been shot before, you know. I can handle it." Chloe smiled.

Chuckling, he rinsed out the cloth. "No, you've been _grazed_ before. But I suppose it still counts. You _were_ shot _at_."

"Damn straight."

"My apologies." He smiled, cleaning the blood off of her shoulder.

Cold water dripped from the cloth and ran in little rivulets down her chest, her nipples tightening at the sensation. Because she wasn't embarrassed enough._ Maybe he won't notice, _she thought as she desperately struggled for something to say – anything at all – that would distract him from looking down. But again, her brain just would not cooperate.

Derek's eyes strayed downward and then quickly back up. He turned an interesting shade of magenta and did a terrible job pretending he didn't notice whilst he washed off the rest of the blood. Without a word he finished quickly, flicked the cloth into the sink and dug through the cabinet beside her. Slightly mortified, pulled the hoodie over her head and crossed her arms. Her body seemed to be betraying her more often these days.

Derek scowled at an ancient box of Band-Aids that he had found in the depths of the cabinet. Realizing that expired bandages were the least of their worries, he picked a large one out and unwrapped it.

"Hold still." He mumbled, carefully placing it over the bite. "Well, the worst of it is the bite on your neck…" he hesitated, "…I'm sorry."

"Why? You didn't do anything." Chloe frowned, trying to meet his gaze.

"No, but he did that because of me. Because of what I am. He was trying to piss me off." He growled, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean?"

Derek sighed. "It's kind of a staking claim thing."

"Huh."

"Yeah." He cleared his throat.

"I'm not an object to be claimed." Chloe said, mostly to herself.

Derek looked up, surprised. "I never said…I know you're not. He hurt you in that way to get at me. I'm sorry."

Chloe nodded and gave him a small smile. "You'd have been pissed regardless."

Derek smiled back and nodded. "That's very true."

"Well, I put everything I had into banishing the jerk. He should be gone for awhile. Hopefully he won't find his way back until we're long gone. I hope." Chloe sighed, closing her eyes. She was tired; drained.

"Are you okay, Chloe?"

She opened her eyes and he was standing in front of her. She forced a smile.

"Yeah, sure. Like you said, I'll be fine…"

"No." Derek interrupted, his fingers lifting her chin. "I mean, are _you_ okay?"

Chloe sighed and met his gaze. "So, I was sexually assaulted by a dead psychotic half demon in the body of your brother…"

She meant it jokingly, but could not help the tears that spilled down her cheeks. What was she supposed to feel? She felt hurt. She felt violated and angry. She felt annoyed that it happened at the most inconvenient of times, as silly as that sounded. Mostly, she felt grateful that she _was_ okay. Derek tenderly wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"You're stronger than you think, Chloe." He murmured.

"You know, not for the first time, I'm wondering whether there's some kind of licensed psychologist for supernaturals. Cause, there totally should be."

He smiled. "There's always Dr. Gill."

"Yeah, no thanks. A stipulation is that said professional needs to have a handle on their own sanity in order to deal with mine."

Derek smiled; worry tightened his eyes as he searched her face. He stroked her cheek with his thumb and she put her small hand over his.

"I'm okay, Derek." She said truthfully.

Chloe didn't know if she would have nightmares about it or what. Mayb she'd get really lucky and just forget it ever happened. But she'd be able to talk to him about it, and that was enough for now.

Derek searched her face for a moment longer. "Alright. Let's get you to bed. You need to rest. It's gonna be a long night."

He helped her down from the counter; her legs were still wobbly and he grabbed her hand to keep her steady. She spotted her reflection in the dusty mirror and grimaced. Her cheek was bruised as was the side of her mouth. Her lip was split and it looked like she had last caught some sleep about a month ago. She caught sight of Derek's face floating above hers. He wasn't looking at her reflection; he was looking down at her with… Well, with something that made her heart pound. She turned to him and smiled and they left the forgotten bathroom.


End file.
